AricAudio's new Jackpot 5751 tube-rectified truly balanced preamplifier
AricAudio has just come out with its brand new preamplifier design called the Jackpot. It only uses one 5751, you can roll any version of 12AU7s, 12aX7s, or 12AT7s, as the signal tube and one 12AU7 as a buffer tube. It is tube rectified and is truly balanced from input to output, and it sells for $5600. I put the Jackpot on the 2025 "Most Wanted Components" list for Stereo Times and bought the review demo. It is a phenomenal musical line-stage and a tube rollers delight. Because you do not have to have a matched pair of signal tubes, it uses both plates of one, and there is only one buffer tube you can experiment with many different combinations to get exactly what sonic signature you want to match your personal taste. I finally ended up with using a NOS Mazda 1950’s silver plate triple mica (signal tube) and a NOS Bugle Boy 1950’s long plate (buffer tube) to get exactly what I wanted in my system! Last year I reviewed two other great preamplifiers that were at least double the price, but the Jackpot was at least their equal and exceeded them in purity of tonality and spatial qualities. My full review will come out in the next couple of months. You can go to AricAudio’s website for more details.
Hey Jeff, Thanks for sharing your experience with the Jackpot. It is a "marvelous" line-stage and a bargain for what it costs. I have already had another couple of preamps in for review that were quite good. However, I still prefer the Jackpot's performance in my system and the other two pieces cost almost triple the price! Hope, GON members will consider Aric's new creation, great performance/build quality/ customer service and very reasonable pricing. |
Hi all, I’m late to this party and hoping to hijack the conversation briefly with an Aric Audio preamp question: I have slightly bright/clinical speakers (Persona 3F & Persona sub) that I will have for a while before I eventually upgrade to either the Dali Kore or Epikore 11. That decision is settled. However, before I get to that, I’m hoping to create some better magic with the current speakers. Currently have an Anthem STR that I’m likely to swap for a different amp/preamp. I’ve determined that I just don’t love how the STR is voiced. I’ve been told that an amp like the Pathos Logos or Kratos is a good match to make the Personas sing and those both have tubed preamp sections. I was considering going with separates and have read everything available about numerous preamps including Aric’s but obviously those aren’t around to audition. Many in this thread appear to have experience with these preamps so I’m hoping to solicit some thoughts about Aric preamps, any wisdom on power amp pairing with them, and whether they may be a good choice for my current and future speakers. For reference, music taste is quite varied, and i use a Pro-Ject Turntable, a Mac mini as a Roon Core feeding an Auralic Aries G2 streamer and have a Aavik D280 DAC. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me if the Aric preamp can handle the 5 Vrms signal coming from the DAC (which my Anthem STR cannot). Thanks much! |
@brewerslaw - I would suggest you contact Aric directly and ask him about what his preamps can handle; he's a great fellow to communicate with by email or phone. |
@brewerslaw My preamplifiers can safely handle a 5 volt RMS Input from the source without coming anywhere near clipping. The balanced ML XL can handle 12 volts RMS without exceeding 1% distortion at the inputs. Please feel free to reach out to me through my website if you have any questions!
Best regards, Aric
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@brewerslaw personally, I would love to hear Kores or Epikore 11s driven by Gato monoblocks (PWR-222) and an Aric Motherlode XL preamp. (Of course one could spend a lot more money on other amps and pre-amps, but I would be happy starting there, assuming somehow the speakers were already purchased.) As massive as those speakers are, i think they are in the 88-89 dB sensitivity range with minimum impedance in the not too difficult ~3.75 ohms range, which is a bit easier than the ~3.49 ohms published for your current Persona 3Fs, and I suspect that the PWR-222/Motherlode XL combination would also tame the beryllium drivers of the Personas sufficiently until you get the DALIs. |
